Aeroplane-gun.



C. J. COOKE.

AEROPLANE GUN.

APPLICATION nun FEB. n. 1918.

Patented P61). 11, 1919.

2 suzzrs-suzn 1.

C. J. COOK-E.

AEROPLANE cum.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. II, 1918. 1,294,240,

.Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

annual;

CHARLES JOHN COOKE, 0F HONGKONG, CHIJTA. v

AERQPLANE-G-UN.

Application filed February 11, 1918. Serial No. 216,678.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, CHARLES JOHN COOKE aresident of Hongkong, China, and. a sub. jectof the King of the UnitedKingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements 1n Aeroplane-Guns; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a; full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as w ll enable others skilled in the art to which 1t appertains tomake and use the same.

The invention ielatesto improvements 1n ordnance or relatively heavyguns for aeroplanes, and has for its object to so coordinate a gun .of'the non-recoil type, open at both ends and adapted to fire a chargemcluding a projectile, an explosive and a reaction mass, with anaeroplane, so that the gun when fired will occupy a position withitslongitudinal axis parallel with the lonitudinal axis of theaeroplane, whereby the laying or training of the gun on the target W111be effected by so maneuvering the aeroplane that the longitudinal axisof the latter is in direct line 'wlththe'target. The essentialadvantages of such a coordination are first, that the gun may be traineddirectly upon the target, if the latter is another aeroplane or anelevated object by maneuvering the plane to bring its longitudinal axisin direct line with the target, so as to insure accuracy of fire withrelatively large pro jeotiles, and second, by causing the plane tonose-dive vertically above and toward the target, when the latter isbelow the plane, and thereby obviate the necessity of allowing for thespeed of the aeroplane, or other necessary corrections, as when theaeroplane is moving in any other-direction than the vertical, withrespect to the target. To these ends the gun is mounted outside of thefuselage of the aeroplane with its longitudinal axis normally parallelwith the longitudinal axis of the plane, and is preferabl swiveled orpivoted below or at one side 0 the fuselage so that the blast from therear of the gun will not strike any portion of the machine, and at thesame time permitting the rear end of the gun to be tilted toward thefusela e to admit of the charge being loaded into t e rear end of thegun with facility and despatch, means being provided to tilt the rearend of the gun toward the fuselage in the loading operation and toretain the gun rigidly in axial alinement with the axis of the planewhen the gun is ready to be fired. In order to facilitate the properaiming of the gun and to indicate to the gunv Specification of LettersPatent. V Patnted Feb, v11, 1919.

gurr also being normally parallel with erable to provide firingmechanism which will admit of the gun being fired only at times when thepropeller blades are out of the line of fire. These and other objects ofthe invention will be more particularly described in the annexedspecification, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation tion of a tractor biplane inclu recoil gunand its accessories.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the aeroplane and gun.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation partly in section of the apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of the gun and charge, andFig. 5 is a further fragmentary sectiona detail view of the gun and itscharge.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the body or fuselage of anaeroplane of the biplane type having the propeller 2 mounted at theforward end on the crankshaft 2' of the engine, as is usual in machinesof this type.

partly in secing the nonaxis parallel with the longitudinal axis of themachine is a machine gun 3, which may be employed to fire' ordinaryammunition and which is adapted to use smoked bullets or tracerprojectiles to indicate the effectiveness of the aim and to showdefinitely when the aeroplane is in position to cause the machine gunprojectiles to find the target. Said machine gun 3 may be any of the,well known types adapted to be held or locked rigidly with its barrelparallel with the longitudinal axis of the machine so that the gun isaimed by maneuvering the machine.

The main gun 5 is of the so-called non- Mounted rigidly on the machinewith its 55 provided to permit the gun to be fired only I recoil type,involving a rifled barrel open at reaction mass will be practicallyidentical when. the propelling charge is fired andv no shock orjar willbe imparted to the gun or to the aeroplane.

The gun 5 is mounted exteriorly of the fuselage and in such relationthereto that the blast from the rear end of the gun when the latter isfired will not strike any part of the machine, but will Preferably, thegun 5 is mounted on trun nions 6 in pendent brackets or bearings751ttached to the under side of the fuselage so that therear end of thegun may be tilted upward to facilitate loading. Obviously, however, thegun may be similarly mounted on either side of-the fuselage providedthat it is so arranged that no part of the aeroplane structure will bein the line of fire, either of the projectile or the reaction mass.

In the form of the apparatus illustrated, the

rear end of the gun is provided with a pivoted link 8, which isconnected to the under side of a swinging trap 9 mounted in the bottomof the fuselage and adapted to swing upward-andv forward, and therebytilt the rear end of the gun upward so that it occuples an inclmedpositlon, indicated in dotted lines, with the rear muzzle extendingintothe body of the fuselage in position to I position, no matter whatthe aeroplane may be.

enable the charge to be loadeddirectly into the gun by the operator.When the trap is closed, the gunis swung to its normal positlon, wlth,its longitudinal axis parallelwith that of the body' of the-machine andis rigidly held'in this position by the link 8. The" trap is pr 'ovidedwith a lifting handle 10 and may, if desired,;also be furnished with asultable locking bolt to holdit rigidl 1 in position 0 the When the gun5 is mounted in the posit on'shown, so as to fire toward-the front ofthe machine, 1t is desirablethat means be when the blades of theropeller are outoftheline of fire, and to t his end, the electricalfirin circuit usually employed by guns of this c aracter is providedwith a synchro- 'nizing circuit closer operated from the ongi'ne shaft,which admits of the gunbeing fired, by closing the normal firing switch,

only when the propeller blades have moved out of the line of fire. Thefiring of the cirpass harmlessly to the 7 rear of the machine.

cuit includes a plug 20, preferably of the character shown in acopending application, Serial No. 191,772, filed Septemlber 17, 1917,adapted to make contact with circuit accessories carried by the charge,and an external circuit including conductor 21, battery 22, firingswitch or key 23, a brush 24 in engagement with an insulating sleeve 25,carried by the end of the engine crank shaft 2' and provided. withcontacts 26 connected to the crank shaft 2, a brush 27 in engagementwith said crank shaft ,and a circuit lead 28 connected to the barrel ofthe gun. The contacts 26 .are so located with respect to the brush 24that the circuit from the battery 22 to the explosive charge can only becompleted when the blades of the propeller 2 are out of the line offire, as will be understood.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the gun 5 maybe made of any desired. size and caliber, compatible with the carryingcapacity of the aeroplane, and said gun may be constructed to eitherdischarge a shell or projectile at high velocity, or at relatively lowvelocity, the latter beingdetermined' by 'the relative weights of theprojectile and the reaction mass and the relative lengths of the foreand aft sections of the gun barrel through which the projectile and thereaction mass respectively travel during the firing operation. Forgeneral service, such as fighting other aeroplane's, dirigibles,observation balloons, elevated targets, as Well as for attacking places.positions or objects on the land or sea below the aeroplane, it .isdesirable that thegun be constructed and arranged to develop a fairlyhigh initial velocity of the projectile, and a convenient arrangementwith this end ,in view, will be to the gun with a length of barrel at tprojectile end sulbstantially half the length of .the barrel at thereaction mass end and" to make theprojectile substantially twice theweight of the reaction mass.

In operating the machine against hostile aeroplanes, balloons, or otherelevated objects, the plane is directed toward the obect and the rangeof the latter determined by means of the auxiliary machine 3, which, asindicated, ma be supplie with smoked bullets or other orms of tracerprojectiles which will indicate when, the machine gun is traineddirectly on the object so that the hitsmay be accurately observed.

rovide particular mode of attack, the projectile may take the form' ofshrapnel shell, high explosive shell, or, if desired, a solid shot,

any one of which would be effective to de molish a hostile machine inthe air.- 4

In order to prevent the rearward displace-- ment of a charge in the gun5, when the aeroplane is climbing and the longitudinal axis of the gunis inclined downwardly to the rear, means, such as illustrated in Figs.4 and 5, may be provided for yieldingly retaining the charge in the gunbarrel, which means, while capable of holding the charge firmly inplace, will, nevertheless, give way when the charge is fired withoutimposing any material stress or resistance on the mechanism. Tlwo formsof retaining means" are shown, one comprising a spring-pressed plunger20 mounted in the firing plug 20 and engaging a shallow circumferentialgroove 15 in the contact ring 14 carried by the reaction mass 13. Theother means comprising a series of spring metal pa'wls or dc tents 16,mounted circumferentially of the reaction mass 13 in recesses 17, withtheir free ends engaging the beveled ends 19 of the rifling ribs in therear part of the gun barrel and occmpying a circumferential recess 18 inthe bore of the gun. When the charge i s'fired the initial movement ofthe reaction mass 13 causes plunger 20 to disengage groove 15 and theends of detents 16 ride up inclines 19 and rest upon the surfaces of therifiing ribs. Of course, any other suitable retaining means may beemployed to hold the charge in position provided the same is capable ofyielding or suspending its holding function without imposing materialstresses on the gun and the aeroplane.

A particularly efiicacious mode of operating t e apparatus, however,depends on the feasibility of maneuvering the aeroplane so as to bringit directly above the target, with the axis of the aeroplane vertical,by means of the so-called nose-dive. With the aeroplane flying at aheight of several thousand feet, it will be obvious that the nose-divemay be prolonged for a suflicient time to insure an absolutelyaccurate'laying of the gun 5 directly on thetarget. andv avhen this isaccomplished, the gun may be fired practically instantly by pressing thefiring key 23. The articular advantage of this mode of attack is that,because of the fact that the aeroplane is moving downwardly and towardthe target in a vertical direction above the same, no allowance has tobe made for the speed of the aeroplane, nor for its height above thetarget, and moreover, the vertically downward velocity of the aeroplaneitself will be added to that of the explosive charge as applied to theprojectile. to increase the force of impact of the latter, theadvantages of (which are obvious.

With the heavier types of aeroplanes employed, it will be apparent thatthe gun 5 may be made sufiiciently large to carry heavy explosive bombsas well as shells and other forms of rojectiles, and when so employed,the pro ectiles whether in the form 1. The'combination with anaeroplane, of

a. non-recoil gun open at both ends and adapted to fire a chargeincluding a projectile, an explosive and a reaction mass, the gun beingmounted exterior of the fuselage and having its longitudinal axisnormally parallel with the axis of the aeroplane.

2. The combination with an aeroplane, of a non-recoil gun open at bothends and adapted to fire a charge including a projectile, an explosiveand a reaction mass, the fin being pivotally mounted exterior of theselage and havmg its longitudinal axis normally parallel with the axisof the aeroplane.

3. The combination with an aeroplane, of a non-recoil gun open at bothends and adapted to fire a charge including a projectile, an explosiveand a reaction mass, the

n being pivotally mounted exterior of the I position for loading.

4. The combination wlth an aerbplane, of a non-recoil gun open at bothends and adapted to fire a charge including a .projec-:

til, an explosive and a reaction mass, the

gun being mounted on trunnions below thefusela e and normally in axialparallelism' with t e longitudinal axis of the aeroplane. 5. Thecombination with an aeroplane, of

a non-recoil gun open at both ends and adapted to fire a chargeincluding a projec tile, an explosive and a reaction mass, the gun beingmounted exterior of the fuselage and havin its longitudinal axisnormally parallel w1th the axis of the aeroplane, a swinging support forthe rear of the gun, and means to operate said support to tilt the guninto loading position.

6. The combination with an aeroplane, of a non-recoil-gun open at bothends and adapted to fire a charge including a projectile, an explosiveand a reaction mass, the gun being mounted exterior of the fuselage andhaving its longitudinal axis normally parallel with the axis of theaeroplane, a swinging trap in the bottom of the fuselage, and a linkconnecting the trap with the rear of the gun, whereby the gun is tiltedto loading position when the trap is raised.

a 7. The combination with an'aeroplane, of a non-recoil gun open at bothends and adapted to fire a charge including a projectile, anexplosive-and a reaction mass, the

gun being mounted exterior of the fuselage and having its longitudinalaxis normally parallel with the axis of the aeroplane, and an auxiliarytracer gun mounted on the aeroplane with its axis parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the machine.

8. The combination with an aeroplane, of a non-recoil gun open at bothends and adapted to fire a charge including a projectile, an explosiveand a reaction mass, the gun being mounted exterior of the fuselage andhaving its longitudinal axis normally parallel with the axis of theaeroplane, and

naeaaeo means for yieldingly locking the charge in the gun.

' -9. The combination with an aeroplane, of a non-recoil gun open atboth ends and adapted to fire a charge including a projectile, anexplosive and a reaction mass, the gun being mounted below the fuselageof the aeroplane and having its longitudinal axis normally parallel withthe axis of the fuselage.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES ()HN COOKE.

Witnesses:

WM. E. DYRE, M. D. BALLAUF.

